Best Buy (NYSE:BBY) Downgraded by The Goldman Sachs Group to Sell

Best Buy (NYSE:BBY) was downgraded by The Goldman Sachs Group from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday,Finviz reports. They presently have a $59.00 price target on the technology retailer’s stock. The Goldman Sachs Group’s target price suggests a potential downside of 5.32% from the company’s current price.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on BBY. HSBC reduced their price target on shares of Best Buy from $96.00 to $85.00 in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on shares of Best Buy from $94.00 to $89.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 9th. Telsey Advisory Group reduced their price objective on shares of Best Buy from $95.00 to $80.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Best Buy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, January 10th. Finally, KeyCorp reiterated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Best Buy in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $75.10.

Best Buy Trading Down 0.1%

NYSE:BBY opened at $62.32 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.36, a PEG ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.35. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $64.58 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $70.80. Best Buy has a 12 month low of $57.25 and a 12 month high of $84.99.

Best Buy (NYSE:BBY) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 3rd. The technology retailer reported $2.61 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.48 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $13.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.96 billion. Best Buy had a net margin of 2.56% and a return on equity of 49.17%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.58 earnings per share. Best Buy has set its FY 2027 guidance at 6.300-6.600 EPS. Analysts expect that Best Buy will post 6.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Jason J. Bonfig sold 6,336 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.02, for a total transaction of $405,630.72. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 79,137 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,066,350.74. This trade represents a 7.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Kathleen Scarlett sold 8,049 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.02, for a total transaction of $515,296.98. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 102,669 shares in the company, valued at $6,572,869.38. The trade was a 7.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders sold 77,247 shares of company stock valued at $4,945,353. 0.59% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Best Buy by 2.4% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,947,415 shares of the technology retailer’s stock valued at $1,810,904,000 after purchasing an additional 552,360 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Best Buy by 46.2% during the third quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 142,288 shares of the technology retailer’s stock valued at $10,760,000 after purchasing an additional 44,989 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC lifted its position in shares of Best Buy by 272.6% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 183,842 shares of the technology retailer’s stock valued at $13,902,000 after purchasing an additional 134,508 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in shares of Best Buy by 2.3% during the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,754,844 shares of the technology retailer’s stock valued at $132,701,000 after purchasing an additional 39,026 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH lifted its position in shares of Best Buy by 5.7% during the third quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 1,639,202 shares of the technology retailer’s stock valued at $123,956,000 after purchasing an additional 89,057 shares in the last quarter. 80.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Best Buy Company Profile

Best Buy Co, Inc is a leading North American consumer electronics retailer that sells a broad range of products including computers, mobile phones, televisions and home theater systems, major appliances, smart-home devices, gaming hardware and software, wearables and related accessories. The company operates through a mix of large-format stores, smaller specialty locations and an e-commerce platform, offering national and private-brand merchandise from major consumer-technology manufacturers as well as third-party sellers.

Beyond product retailing, Best Buy provides a suite of services aimed at installation, repair and ongoing technical support.